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Dave Knott writes with this intriguing snippet from CBC: "Argentine scientists have found a way to transform the gas created by the bovine digestive system into fuel, an innovation that could curb greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Using a system of valves and pumps, the experimental technique developed by Argentina's National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) channels the digestive gases from bovine stomach cavities through a tube and into a tank. The gases — which otherwise are commonly known as burps, or "eruptos" in Spanish — are then processed to separate methane from other gases such as carbon dioxide. Each head of cattle emits between 250 and 300 liters of pure methane a day, enough energy to keep a refrigerator running for 24 hours."

I guess that's the big question. My gas company charges 14 cents per cubic meter (1000 litres), so if each cow produced 250 litres a day, you'd get about 3.5 cents per day for each head of cattle. Probably not enough to even pay for the food. Especially considering that's the price to the consumer. You're not going to get anywhere close to 14 cents per cubic meter for bulk methane. However, if you're already raising the cattle for milk or meat, it could be a good way to add an extra source of income. Although at the price you could get, you probably wouldn't even end up breaking even on the collection system.

I hated that part of the matrix. The original story was that the humans were used for their brains. The machines lived inside the networked human collective mind, because the human brain was--in this fictitious universe--the most powerful and energy efficient computer. But the studio thought that was too abstract, and so came up with the battery idea.

But the studio thought that was too abstract, and so came up with the battery idea.

It actually makes sense when you realize that the 'free' humans were not picked for their mastery of science. Someone was lied to by a program, Morpheus believed the person (probably through a chain of re-tellers), and that's what he told Mr. Anderson. They were all too busy fighting their odd war of survival to notice that the science they accepted was wrong, and that electricity could not be the AI's motive for keeping the Matrix up and running.

Ah come on... Cow BURPS? There are a whole lot of ways to get methane from the things cows expel, mostly from the OTHER end, that are a whole lot easier and effective than what they burp up. But hey... Who wants to shovel the stuff into the tank where we can easily capture the methane it generates?

No, they are just taking it from the stomach of the cow though surgically installed tube in the cow's left side. Methane produced in the intestines would not be collected though this system, nor would the methane produced from what exits the cow.

Three is an "Ease of collection" angle to be considered though. If you can get 5% plus additional gas from a digester system when you scoop all the poop into it, why bother with having to perform surgery on each cow?

I got to wonder how expensive the surgery is and what the mortality rate is? Surely that's not insignificant cost. This whole thing seems very non-cost effective to me, even if I've not been on a farm working with cows for 30+ years..

Problem with that idea is that any animal that dies outside of the slaughter house is *not* allowed to be sold for human consumption. You can eat it yourself, but you cannot sell it to somebody. Which is a law that makes a lot of sense for food safety.

So you can sell the carcass for dog food or for rendering, but it's not legal to sell it for use in hamburger.

(to be funny) Imaging this implemented on an industrial scale...Warehouses filled with pens of cows hooked up to all sorts of tubes, and strange looking devices, possibly a treadmill, lol. This is interesting in theory, but in practice...I don't see it working.lol

This sounds like it could be a fertile subject for steampunk adaptation! Just imagine herds of cows with tanks attached. For dairy herds, when your cows come in for milking, you would also collect the accumulated methane at the same time. Cows with balloons filled with self generated methane could be flying around the skies!

The tech to do so is already out there. SASOL which is a south african petroleum products company, has gas to liquids plants that can produce gasoline and diesel products from methane. All you need to do is feed the methane from landfills and sewage plants to these gas to liquids plants, and you have gasoline equivalents from human excrement. The key to this technology is finding a cheap plentiful source of gas and high gasoline and diesel prices.

I'm not a veterinarian - nor do I play one on TV - but I understand that the bovine digestive system is really not optimal for digesting what we feed most cows these days (corn). I can't help but wonder if their methane production would go down if we went back to feeding them what they would ordinarily eat.

Sure, but you won't like the meat that results. Cows feed only grass take longer to get to slaughter weight. The beef produced is leaner, tougher and most folks strongly prefer grain fed beef as a result.

So nearly 100% of the beef consumed is from animals which are initially raised on grass, then spend the last few months of their lives being finished in feed lots. You have to slowly transition them to grain because the increased methane production of grain will kill them if you go too fast and to make t

My roommate "predicted" this as part of a speech class in college, early 1975. He also drew up a Fartmobile, tubes coming out from under the seats. He didn't have a solution for the problem that girls don't fart.

They have a plastic tube coming out of the stomach wall connected to a mylar balloon. It is as shocking as that cow with a glass window in its side that allows the scientist to reach in and take samples of semi digested stuff from the cow's stomach.

Forget the belches and farts, cowshit has enough methane. It is far easier to sweep all the solid waste from the cow to retention ponds, cover it with a plastic sheet and collect the methane. It reduces odor pollution, gets methane fuel, and produces non-smel